The invention relates to a toothbrush and for a process which is intended for producing the same.
Toothbrushes with a conventional bristle arrangement comprising clusters of bristle filaments, e.g. made of a polyamide (PA) or polyester (PBT), and an additional flexible structure are known, for example, from WO 00/64307 and WO 01/21036. The conventional bristles here serve for customary teeth-cleaning purposes, while the flexible structure can perform different functions, e.g. massaging the gums, damping the cleaning movement, removing plaque, polishing the tooth surface, suspending the bristles in an elastic manner and/or sealing non-welded locations. WO 00/64307 discloses a toothbrush with rod-like flexible cleaning elements which are of approximately the same length as the conventional clusters of bristles and are arranged on the periphery of the head part of the toothbrush. In the case of WO 01/21036, elastic cleaning elements are of sheet-like, e.g. undulating, configuration and are arranged within the conventional bristle arrangement. In the case of WO 00/64307, a plurality of the flexible cleaning elements are connected to one another via a material bridge made of the same material.